Google Pushing for Better Sidewalk Labs

In Google’s latest efforts, the company is looking to find a technological remedy for problems that city residents face. Some of the primary issues have to do with traffic congestion, extremely high housing costs, and increasing levels of pollution.

In an effort to make life for city dwellers better, Google wants to start a new venture called Sidewalk Labs. According to Larry Page, chief executive with Google, the company is placing a long-term bet on innovation in the future as a means of changing cities for the better.

Page went on to say that the investment is actually quite modest but also unique to the company’s core business. He admitted that Sidewalk Labs is an area Google is interested in as a way of improving daily life for people living in the city.

Although there has been some degree of progress in meshing technology with city life, such as traffic patterns that are visualized through dashboards and various tools that allow people who live in the city the opportunity to provide feedback pertaining to municipal services, there is still a lot of work when it comes to Sidewalk Labs.

Page went on to explain that many of the challenges urban dwellers face are interrelated. For example, where people decide to live depends on the availability of transportation. This then has a rolling effect with the cost of housing, which in turn connects with overall quality of life.

For this reason, it is important to look at principles first so a big picture of different factors involving city life can be determined. From there, technologies can be developed and partnerships established that will have a positive impact.

Google plans to place Sidewalk Labs in New York City, which will be operated by Dan Doctoroff, former deputy mayor. As to the amount of money Google will have to invest was not disclosed but when looking at projects like Google X, it could be somewhat significant.

The bottom line is that as an increasing number of people all over the world settled into downtown or large urban areas not only to live but also work, opportunities to better the environment become endless. Today, there is a growing number of people choosing downtown locations, to include a large group of millennials.

Providing them with the things they need for better overall quality of life is essential. Google realizes this is the perfect time to take action and is ready, willing, and able to get started.